Jose A. Benzaquen Perea
Decades ago, the world was introduced to one of the most impressive animals that exist: The Camel.
The entire world was and still impressed by its imposing greatness and its incredible docility. The camel has many similarities with the South American Camelids, curiously enough to learn more about these precious animals that adapted easily to the different climates from deserts high temperatures to the low temperatures of certain nations as well as the Andean heights.
Undoubtedly, they have been the millennial companions of the formation of cultures and traditions of people of Asia, the Middle East and America.
Personally, I never thought that our professional destiny would bring us the honor of working in Qatar, which entails a great challenge and responsibility to continue strengthening our bilateral and multilateral relations in this great country, a leader in the international community.
Despite the geographical distance between Peru and Qatar, current technological tools makes us closer, and even more so, by sharing the same development and welfare objectives.
Seeking to relate to our cultures, we find camelids as geographically separated relatives that have marked and mark the life of our peoples.
Without pretending to be experts on this matter, we encourage ourselves to write with interest and sympathy about these real and useful animals that have accompanied us for millennia, becoming necessary for a peaceful coexistence with Mother Nature.
In this way, we find scientific research that sustains that everything originated in North America, 45 million years ago Protilopus petersoni evolved into Estenomylus. This to Estenomylus. This to Oxidactylus, and this to Parazemelus and Hemiauchenia. The ancestor of the Parazemelus arrives to Mongolia, passing through the Bering Strait. There it evolves to Bactrian Camels.
The same Parazemelus arrives in Asia and North Africa, evolving to dromedary camel, and it is the one we see so majestic in the lands of Qatar.
On the other hand, this ancestor Hemiauchenia, passed through Isthmus of Panama to South America. Originating the guanaco, the Llama, the Alpaca, the Vicuna, which nowadays still live in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Ecuador, Chile as well as in Colombia.
Peru is the country that hosts the largest number of South American camelids with more than 5 million specimens in the four species, mainly alpacas with more than 3.5 million. each of these species has its own characteristics:
The llama (lama glal,ma), selected from the guanaco and It is domesticated.
The alpaca is domesticated with a weight 185 to 190 pounds, and 32 to 35 inch to the withers.
The Vicuna is a wild animal. With a weight 85 to 90 pounds, and 30 to 33 inches to the withers.
The Guanaco is a wild animal. With a weight 220 to 225 pounds, and 35 to 38 inch to the withers.
Its habitat is normally found in highlands (the puna or high plateau of the Andes), located between 3,600 and 5,000 meters high. However, at present, South American camelids have been taken to various countries on the planet, in which the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, among others, stand out.
Undoubtedly, they are the most important large native herbivorous mammals in the Andean world due to their ecological dominance, their peculiarity and their contribution to the present day.
They are emblematic animals of the Andes, domesticated approximately 4 thousand years ago.
In the case of the llama, it is used mainly as a transport and meat animal. The others provide valuable fiber, which is an important element in the livelihood of our communities. The average life of these camelids is around 12 and 13 years.
Alpaca is the species that produces a valuable fiber or wool, with which valuable garments are made in world fashion, due to the variety of colors and because it is a fiber that is more resistant than that of sheep, and without allergic problems. Each specimen produces 5 kilograms of fiber annually.
The Andean populations use their meat. There are more than 3.6 million alpacas in Peru, which represents 87% of the global population. Of the more than 5 million of the four species.
As for the vicuña, it has been found that its beige fiber is the finest fiber of animal origin, with a length of 4.10 centimeters, being the most valued in the international market.
A vicuña only produces 0.5 kg every two years. The shearing that is carried out annually by our Andean communities, after bringing them together thanks to a joint effort called "Chaco" in the Quechua language. They live between 5 thousand meters high.
The competent entity for the conservation of species in Peru is called the "National Forest and Wildlife Service", an entity that has been conducting a vicuña census, whose population is currently estimated at 208,899 individuals. This species was in danger of extinction in 1960 with 5,000 individuals, due to poaching. A total of more than 400 thousand vicuñas are registered worldwide.
Regarding the guanaco, being it is a wild animal, ancestor of the Llama and the largest, we do not find it in great quantity. It lives at a height of 4 thousand meters.
It is worth mentioning that Peruvian camelids are in protected areas under specific regulations that regulate their conservation and sustainable maintenance. We mention: The Pampas Galeras Reserve (Ayacucho Region, 1967), the Junín Reserve (Junín and Pasco Regions, 1974), Huascarán National Park, Chacamarca Historic Sanctuary, Salinas, and Aguada Blanca National Reserve, Nor Yauyos Cochas Landscape Reserve, Cotahuasi Sub-basin Landscape Reserve, and Suchubamba hunting reserve.
In this way, having found an interesting relationship between our countries, we can only reiterate the invitation to visit Peru, with the kindness and hospitality that characterizes the Peruvian people; similar welcome and brotherhood that we received when we arrived in Doha.
